as we head toward the close here, a five-year high for the dow here earlier in the session and we've come off of that. above 14,000. will be the first time since february 1st that we closed above 14,000. veteran trader terry dolan. is that significant at this point? >> interest a psychological standpoint, i me of it is significant. and the bigger question for me is what's next? >> exactly. >> take a look at the nasdaq, a little weaker today. >> brought that down. >> it looks like there's been a little disconnect from the money standpoint as well as the apple factor, and now it's a question of what happens next. >> is there something the president could say tonight in the state of the union that would either help or hurt this market, what do you think in. >> i don't think so. i think that the -- that they are totally independent of each other. >> taxes or spending or philosophy in terms of fiscal policy? >> well, i think the market is looking for clarity on some

policies, on some regulatory issues and things like that. i don't think they will get that tonight in the speech, may get mentioned, an overall thing i need to simplify. you can't see past the quarter which is why they have so much cautious. >> you want to stay long. >>ite be getting out of my positions. you can get out but can't always sell them. >> that's why you're a veteran trader on the floor of the stock exchange. thanks for joining us. this will be the first close above 14,000 since february 1st. more on that and, plus, what's going on on carnival cruise lines? i'll see you tomorrow. and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing

bell." take a look at how we're set lipping out on the street today. after a pretty good rally in stocks. nasdaq was under pressure dow up about 47 points. that's off the best levels of the afternoon, and volume really underwe underwhelming today. nasdaq down five points and ath big problem there showing another decline on the session, and the s&p 500 up just a fraction. two and a half points higher. now that we've closed above the five-year high of 14,000, where now? is a new all-time high in the cards this week? my guests join me. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> let me kick you off to would. would you put new money to work after these levels? >> i would put new money to work. long-term investors can be dollar-cost averaging into this market. a lot of people have been waiting for a pullback since the beginning of the year or even

longer and we just haven't seen it. there's underlying strength in this market and any pullback is short and dollar cost averaging back in is probably the best to re-enter the market? it's hard to fight the fed when you've got very few alternatives, mike santolli in terms of any return. >> i would point out for perspective we've been here the last two or three years. on valentine's day, last year the year before and this year, looks lying, up 6% to 7% year to day. what happens finally after that is unclear. in all those cases you had investor sentiment pick up from depressed levels to excitement levels. i've been tread how the market has had to buyoff and sell back but i don't think it tells you how it absorbs any kind of a prize. i don't think there's any hurry

to chase this higher, though i can't say i doubt the idea that we're well supported if we do have bets that come along. >> mark, what are you hearing from clients right now? in terms of your client investment strategies, do you see a risk adversity? do you remember see a commitment to get back into this market? what are you hearing from your client? clients seem to at least want to talk about getting into the market and we see that in eke flows. the ten-year moved up but not that much. i think it's cash on the sidelines that is looking at a market bottom of five years ago, and is starting to at least move a little bit of that money in, maybe not to a fully asset-allocated portfolio but is looking to get market exposure and diversity that. seeing tone change with individual clients since the beginning of the year. >> rick santelli, what a potential for a tone change if we were to see some of the

money. >> it's not fixed income money or excess reserves, part of what's happening. if invest -- if everybody thought the philosophical orchestration of the private sector, we're not there yet. the stock market down here is talked about in many ways just like apple was talked about. long after the fairy dust wasn't as magical, it still continued to go up and everybody still continued to love it and not kick the tires. many think that's the way the u.s. stock market is going to end. many down here say the trigger, well, look at what coke said, caterpillar and ford.

the cracks in their well anticipated and well received earnings were europe. maybe the key is europe. others think it's japan. like kyle bass, that's what traders down here are focusing on. >> what about that? david, do you see a downside risk to the fed, easy money here? i mean, do you think at some point this comes back to bite us? >> well, there's -- you know, and we haven't talked about this. hasn't been talked about the exit plan for the fed when they want to reverse policy. i think the risk this year is will qe be mitigated or send this year. that will certainly have an impact on bonds and i think that is a catalyst for rates moving tied and this great befolks and i think we'll see more evidence of that this year. i don't think rates are going up for a while but a good chance they back off on qe and we start

to see that rotation. >> okay. you think then that qe starts ending sometime this year? >> i think it's very likely that they can start backing off on qe, and the -- the economy, you know, despite the gdp in the fourth quarter. the economy is strengthening. we're seeing that turn in housing. auto sales that have been very robust and increasing. think we'll have a decent economy this year. 2% plus growth, and we've already seen the indications from many of the fed representatives that qe. they have hint that had they could back off on it yet this year. not raise rates but back off on qe sometime this year. >> it's interesting because the fed has said they want to keep rates where they are until 2015, but they start backing off. mark, if the market feels like qe is being backed off, would that create a big disruption, in your view? >> i think in the short run that

it would. i think a lot of it depends on the circumstances around it. if unemployment is moving down dramatically, and we don't see qe being unwound, maybe as early as your other guests simply because of where unemployment is at, but if it's moving down unemployment is below 7% and getting close to 6.5%, the market reacts differently than an economy that seems to be getting better but unemployment is still above 7%. we think fed qe is still in the cards for as far as we can see. at least throughout rest of this year. the economy is just not going to get strong enough in the second half, we think, to take that policy off. >> mark, remember, they made it very clear that that target for unemployment, when they invoked the evans rule as part of fed policy, as fed policy in december, is when they would start raising rates, not when they would end qe. they would end qe long before we saw unemployment at 6.5%. >> right. >> although you listen to janet yellin or chuck evans i wouldn't

buy into the argument that they are going to voluntarily end qe any time soon, but whoever said it it was more about the quantitative easing versus the purchases. they are exactly correct with regard to the fed. steve liesman has pointed that out on the 6.5% unemployment target. >> i think we'll lucky to be having that argument in a serious way down the road. >> right. >> everything we've talked about inters of the underpinnings of the economy i think are baked into people's expectations. the idea that, you know, the fourth quarter gdp doesn't matter, just a little wobble in the growth rate is a thing that in the short term might upend expectations a little bit because the economic surprises haven't been coming in with glory. that's the predictable thing once we seely data really improve and before we get to that point we actually have to have the expectations of an acceleration ratified by the data. >> michael, it's not straight up from here.

i don't mean to imply it's straight up for the markets. 2013 is going to be a great year for the markets, but we've got volatility ahead, and you're right. the external event. the crack in the economic data certainly will -- will result in a pullback in stocks, but i think that we end up with a good 2013 for stocks overall. >> all right. we'll leave it there. >> we would think the market -- >> all right. >> go ahead. finish your thought, please. >> we also think the market closes higher than we're at today for 2013, but i think you're in for little bumps here. washington will get involved over the next couple of months starting tonight, and i think that volatility will certainly be there, and i think that we're not going to be quite strong enough. the fled keep this policy going a little longer than they probably should. >> real quick on tonight, mark. are you expecting anything that would create a disruption tomorrow? were you expecting the fopt say anything about any specific areas that you think could be an upset? >> i really think there's two ways to go, if the emphasis is

coming from taxes or revenue increases, i don't think the market will like that. i think the market is expecting that message with you won't like it. if there's any sort of olive branch thrown out towards, look, it's spending cuts, the markets will like that. it's really how much time almost is spent on one versus the other which will have an indication of where we open up tomorrow morning but the bias going in it, more on the tax side than the spending cut side. >> great conversation. appreciate it. we'll see you soon. thank you, guys. investors holding a breath for a pullback and immediate's saying it's seeing fewer danger signals ahead than in a long time. so is that a reason to worry? we'll ask the man from moody's who says things are looking up and monetizing social media. twitter has a big-time deal with a partner, american express. are you willing to risk your privacy for one of their deals? we elay it all out for you, an interesting choice and then conditions on the stranded carnival cruiseship are reportedly getting bad. we'll talk to a movement coast

guard out in the gulf with the boat as patience is growing thin on board. after the recent string of cruise mishaps and disasters, would you still take a cruise? spend us a tweet @cnbc.com. we'll show you the answers later on in the show. back in a moment.

welcome back. the dow industrials close above 14,000 today, first time since the beginning of the month. mary thompson running through the day's winners and losers. >> reporter: the dow and s&p closing at five-year highs today. let's take a look at the dow leaders. bank of america among them. financials in general very strong. we also had jpmorgan and another dow comb hent hitting a 52-week high. other winners alcoa and at&t which reflected the strength we saw in telecom stocks which were also strong in today's session. moving to the downside, coca cola. the company's revenue missed revenues and worldwide case shipments were weak and sysco systems lower ahead of its earnings which have come out after the bell tomorrow. among winners in the s&p as it hit multi-year highs. avon, 20% gain, better than expected results. also said it's exploring strategic alternatives for its money-losing jewelry business. masco, a building products

company, expecting better earnings and that gave a lift to other building groups. the losers on the s&p including dunn a.m. bradstreet which showed weaker earnings for 2012. maria, back to you. >> markets reflecting improved economic conditions and a new report from moody's says major global economic risks have actually diminished over the last three months. colin ellis is the author of report and joins us now from london. with us is harry dent of h s. dent management who sees conditions very differently. good to have you on the program and want to kick this off with you. tell me what caused the downside risk for the global economy to diminish, and what exactly are you seeing? >> well, i think, really, what we're trying to say is conditions have changed over the last three months. very important that underpinning our global universe of ratings,

we have a single consistent macro view, and that's why four times a year we set out that view to investors in the macro update which has been published today. and if you go back three months ago, we had a number of potentially stumbling blocks to the path of the global recovery. we were worried about the potential for something to go wrong with the fiscal cliff negotiations in the u.s. we were concerned about the potential for a hard landing in major emerging markets which have been doing a lot of leg work and driving global growth recently, and we were also concerned about the crisis in the euro area which, of course, is rumbling on. fast forward three months to where we are today. the central outlook in terms of our forecast, how quickly we expect the economy to grow, aren't really very different, but the potential scenarios that could rerail that forecast, the downside risks, seem to have diminished. >> i see what you're saying. >> the growth is the same expectations but to interrupt that growth have lessened. is this a head fake?

>> yeah. in every bull market, we're four years into this going on five and no bull market has lasted since the japan bubble burst 20 years ago. more than four, five years. we're in an aging bull market, and everybody is acting like this is a new bull market getting the minimum. of course that looks better towards the end of the market. there's very strong resistance, s&p at 1,600, well above here. germany, the daxx, 8,100. i'd be surprised if we break that so i don't see a lot of potential. i don't see a top yet, probably three to five months away. i think it's hard to break this. look at europe and say it's a calm before the storm. spain, unlike the rest of southern europe that has competitive problems in sovereign debt and trade deficits, yes, and that's not getting worse but it's not getting better at this point. spain has a real estate bubble

and overbuilding boom which beyond the u.s. and any other country in europe other than island and that's the achilles heel of europe. that i think is going to erupt in the next year, and i think that's the danger signal and just because they are not getting a lot worse right now doesn't mean that danger is not out there, any more than the sub crisis in 2008. nobody saw that coming in late 2007 where everything looked hunky-dory either. >> what about that, colin? >> i think it's fair to say that there are still risks out there and where it pains in the report to point out that the euro crisis is still the biggest risk we see in the economy. great to see we haven't seen any progress. consolidation managers are coming through as we might thought and actually you have seen adjustment in terms of the trade and current account imbalances in the likes of spain and portugal. have seen adjustment in terms of the unit labor costs and competitiveness issue which we know needs to be addressed in

order to ensure long-term viability. not there yet. more work to be done, but we are seeing some progress. >> all right. we'll leave it there. we appreciate your time. >> yes. this is happening in europe. 1.3 trillion in qe, early last year, and they still fell in a recession. still not coming out. you take that much viagra and nothing happens. you've got to say something is wrong here. >> you have a problem. thanks, guys. appreciate your time today. we'll see you soon. >> president obama's state of the union today. it's the countdown and it's on. cnbc bringing it to you live at 9:00 p.m. what the president says tonight could move your money big-time tomorrow. our panel of market pros is up next on what wall street wants to hear and doesn't want to hear. and then later, if you build, it consumers may not necessarily come. up next, a warning that twitter's new partnership with american express could be a bridge too far when it comes to the privacy of online shoppers. we'll tell you about it. to make purchases using hashtags

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nasdaq down today. president obama is delivering his state of the union address tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern live. eamon javers has a preview. over to you, eamon >> reporter: one thing that you know when it comes to a state of the union address just about every single major issue that affects the united states is going to be on tap for discussion from the president. these things have become real laundry lists in recent years, but take a look here at some of the items that the president is going to have on his laundry list tonight. the white house has said that the president is going to talk a little bit here about mice his plan for the economy and to create jobs and to help the middle class. he's also, we expect, going to talk about infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and education and making investments that is spending in all of those. we'll hear some of his ideas on the sequester and the debt crunch facing the united states and also, of course, those social issues that are going to be so important. guns and immigration. they are going to draw a lot of attention in this speech tonight and one thing to look for here, maria, apple ceo tim cook is expected to be sitting in the

first lady's box tonight as a guest of the first family and one undercation we may hear of insourcing of jobs which is something apple has received notice for recently and trying to bring some of the manufacturing jobs back from overseas to the united states, maria. >> all right. thank you so much. as we contemplate what the president may or may not include in the speech tonight we want to know what wall street wants to hear that could send stocks to an all-time high this week or lower. joining us now to break that down, cnbc contributor rich bernstein and anthony chan of chase wealth management. good to see you, guys. thanks so much for joining us. so nice to have you. what are you expecting from the president tonight? >> looking for a little more balance in the comments. i think wall street wants to hear a little more about job creation and wants to know a little bit more about infrastructure and wants to know more about possible compromise, meeting both sides somewhere in the middle. i think there will be a little bit of everything. yes, discussions about social issues. it's certainly part of the plan but i think you'll get that other stuff that wall street is looking for. in fact, the u.s. -- the american people want to hear

that, too. >> so rich, what would be bullish? what could spook the markets in tonight's speech. handicap it for us. >> well, what would spook the markets would be something where taxes are going up, where not spending -- anything that really would be a normal huge contraction to fiscal policy. i think that would probably upset the markets in the short term. again, put this in proper perspective. i'm sure in six months nobody will remember this speech at all, of course, but in the near term, remember the things that markets like are accommodative fiscal policy, if all of a sudden it's hugely contractive, i think in the short term you can get volatility. >> volatility in terms of specific sectors, but anthony you're saying you think we'll hear talk of compromise. the sequestration has to come up. >> the compromise is what can we do in order to make that problem go away over the near term?

>> right. >> i wonder how tough he's going to be in terms of we want tax revenue. >> well, we can't lose sight of the fact that he won the election and a little bit of swagger is justified. you would see that no matter which political party is in the white house but the fact that we'll see some of the seeds for potential compromise to make the sequester problem a short-term problem rather than a long-term problem that would be constructive for the street >> you say the deficit is shrinking but still a lot of debate over entitlement reform and the need for spending cuts. does wall street have a stake in this debate? >> well, i think they do. wall street has a stake in every debate, but i think that, you know, wall street kind of lass acted, and i think a lot of people have missed the bull market because they think that policy should be a certain thing, and -- and they are not seeing what they think should happen. but that's not really -- that's kind of political issue. it's not an investing issue. as an investor you have to take the cards dealt to you and make the best hands you possibly k.basically no what monetary and

fiscal policy is going to look like, and you need to invest accordingly. the people who have been waiting for policy that they like have been missing out on the bull market, and i think most bears are still waiting for that policy that they will like, forgetting that that's not really what investing is all about, so i think we have to be very careful here about wanting a certain policy versus accepting what's going on and forming an appropriate portfolio. >> all right. we'll leave it there. gentlemen, thank you very much. rich, always great. we'll see you soon, gentlemen. sewage in the hallways, flooded rooms. conditions worsening aboard the carnival triumph as tugboats drag the disabled ship towards alabama. we'll talk to a coast guard captain shadowing the ship coming up, and later will hashtag shopping fly? somebody says privacy concerns will keep twitter's new e-commerce deal with american express from taking off. a discussion about the privacy debate coming up next. on an an.

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welcome back. breaking news right now. let's get to jon fortt. jon? >> reporter: maria, just got out of session with marisa meyer here at the goldman conference. three key points i want to make based on what she said. one, she implied yahoo! groups is going to get reborn in mobile. she said groups are important in

a new way in mobile, and they are going to push ahead with that. she talks about the -- the investments in yahoo! japan and ali baba saying they are different. yahoo! japan more strategic especially if you want a global advertising business you've got to have a play in japan and finally she said i'm not confused. our biggest business problem is usage. >> we've got to break n.breaking news right now on comcast, the cable giant purchasing ge's remaining stake in nbc universal. let get right now to julia boorstin with the very latest. julia. >> that's right, maria. huge news here. comcast is purchasing the remainder of nbc universal which is cnbc's parent company from general electric. comcast did reserve the right to make the rest of this purchase when they announced the original deal but this is coming earlier than expected. now, comcast will be paying $16.7 billion for ge's common equities stake in the company. in addition, nbc universal will pay ge 1.4 billion for the properties it uses at 30 rock as

well as cnbc's new jersey headquarters. here's where comcast is getting the money. $11.4 billion will be in cash, $4 billion in unsecured notes issued to ge, and there will also be $2 billion in bank credit facilities. now why is comcast doing the rest of this purchase earlier than expected? comcast sees -- says that it sees a lot more opportunity than nbc universal now that they are familiar with the business. pointing to the fact that nbc's results are improving and that is beginning to retransmission fees for the nbc network and nbc sports has returned to profitability, that the theme parks are growing and that comcast sees continued strong performance at both the cable net wrorks and the film studio. comcast is also making some other announcements today, increasing its dividend by 20% to 78 cents. it's also pre-repurchasing $2 billion of stock in 2013. now, comcast earnings were due out tomorrow morning, but it has just released its quarterly and

full-year results earlier than expected. now, the fourth-quarter earnings are coming in at 52 cents per share once you exclude certain one-time items. that's just a penny short of expectations, but it is 10.6% from last year. fourth-quarter revenue for comcast is coming in at 5.94 billion, up about 5.9% and pretty much in line with expectations. with comcast we pay attention to the subscriber numbers which came in better than expected. 503,000 net additions. up 8% over last year. now the key video subscriber number, that was down by just 7,000 subscribers. that's compared to a loss of 17,000 subscribers in the year-ago quarter and the company says that excluding the impact of hurricane sandy it would have actually added video subscribers for the first time since 2007. the company did add 341,000 high-speed internet customers bringing its total of 5.6% year over year and its business

services revenue grew 32% in the quarter. maria, this is very big news and obviously it's interesting to have quarterly results out, but the headline there is that comcast is purchasing the rest of cnbc's parent and nbc universal. >> joining us now to talk more about this. media tech dan holland joins us on the telephone and david faber as well. good to see you. thanks so much for joining us. certainly sooner than we expected but no surprise that they are buying the rest of the company. david faber, your take? >> again, i kind of agree with you, maria. >> a lot of mixed signals and investors have asked the question a number of times over the last couple of months given the cheap cost of money right now and the debt being raised here, actually being issued to ge, but given the low cost of borrowing and all the cash on hand on the balance sheet of our parent company comcast, soon to be our full parent company, many have said, hey, not a bad time to do this. immediately acreative to full

cash flow and there's a sense they may flow into it. part of an equity creep that was part of the original deal with ge that made it difficult for comcast to buy in over time, when they had the periods of options to exercise rather than all at once. decided to go all in. some will applaud the use of the balance sheet and use of the cash, $11.4 billion of cash from the balance sheet used in this way levering up a bit more and the fact that it would be accedive, i would assume and maybe it says good things about the future for nbc and maybe not so good things about cable, but interesting in many, many ways. >> really is. porter, you've got comcast not only buying the 49% of nbc it didn't already own but also announcing a big dividend increase, 20% dividend increase as well as the stock buyback. buying 30 rock, one of the sort

of prized buildings in new york. what's your take, porter? does this -- what does this tell you about where comcast is right now? >> well, they are sitting pretty right now, maria, as david pointed out. they are up on just about every aspect of nbc's ui operations and being able to report a fourth-quarter rise in cable subscribers against losses for every other major cable operator, and they are looking very strong, and jim cramer yesterday said maybe apple should buy time warner. i'm wondering why apple shunned buy comcast with nbc ui in the bargain. >> is that something -- are you being serious? >> no. i think it's a separate issue, but here's the real smartness that comcast has exhibited. they are distribution and content-oriented. time warner chose to go down a different path and separate their cable operations from the

content at time warner, and it's not paying off. the cable is weakening. they don't have the strength in the cloud. paying more for contempt. comcast is sitting pretty right now along all of the msos. >> let me ask you this, porter, because the stock is trading up in the extended hours on this breaking news from comcast and ge. would you put new money to work in california cast stock right here at 4158? >> i think comcast is one of the best managed media companies in the world, and i definitely think they are undervalued right now. there's a lot of growth in the content that they bought, and you have to remember they are also the world's largest internet service provider, so whatever happens, cable makes very little difference. they are going to win on the swings what they lose on the round-abouts. >> maria? >> a great point. >> let not forget, of course, a ge side to all of this. 16.7 billion is not a small sum of money. >> that's right. >> that's going to be going to ge. don't want to forget that side of the story as well. >> great point there.

and ge is trading up also. >> yeah. ge trading up on the news also, but clearly ending, completely ending their ownership position. obviously the deal of a number of years back was the key moment, but nonetheless they did still own 49%, and that, of course, will no longer be the case. they will have fully divested what was once one of the largest, an important part of that diversified conglomerate that they have been slowing down. not sure about the background here in terms of the negotiations. perhaps things went comcast's way and they were willing to pull the trigger when they might not have been. we'll find out a bit more. real quickly a clarification, maria. not buying all of 30 rock, the building where i am right now. buying all of our facilities here as part of this deal. >> it was real interesting. i remember when they were first doing the deal. sources had told me, david, that jeff immelt wanted to keep the board room. wanted parts of 30 rock, even though, you know, comcast was

acquiring the nbc real estate in 30 rock. he wanted to make sure that he had that space for his -- for his board. thank you for that clarification. >> dan holland, what's your stake from morning star. how do you see this? >> i think it's a net positive just thinking about the liquidity that the company is going to get here over the coming -- you know, over the coming quarters as this deal comes to a close. largely signalled by a management team and you start thinking about ge, you know, bigger picture. the company has lots of cash, lots of different ways to invest, and broadly speaking a way for investors to -- to look at the industrial assets in a more pure sense now. >> so, dan, let me ask you the same question that i asked porter moments ago. at this level would you commit new capital to comcast stock right now? >> i'm not the comcast analyst. just thinking about the nbc assets, i mean, definitely see a growth opportunity in nbc so this is something that the company wants to take advantage of. >> we'll leave it there. everybody stay put. we'll take a short break and we'll continue talking about

this breaking story here. moving the stocks involved. a big dividend increase. buyback and comcast acquires that 49% stack it does not already oven nbc universe a. back in one minute's time on the "closing bell." today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel.

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it did not already own from general electric. the company also announcing a 20% increase in its dividend and a share buyback plan. big news for both companies. both stocks trading higher in the extended hours. we have our group back with me right now, including julia boorstin. julia, you have another point to make? >> yes, maria. i just want to point out enterprise value of which comcast is purchasing nbc univers universal, buying this 49% stake. right now it's at a $39 billion enterprise value. that's 4% increase over where nbc universal was valued when the original deal announced back in december of 2009. 37.9 bill cropch the fact that it's only paying 4% more when the media stocks, including comcast and all the others have gone up very dramatically over the same period is obviously a sign that comcast does think it's getting quite a deal here. >> julia, thank you so much. stephanie link joins me on the telephone along with porter bibb who is also with us, along with our own david faber and dan

holland. stephanie, you own shares of ge, correct? >> yes, we do. thanks for having me, maria >> talk to us about the impacts from your standpoint. >> yeah, so this is not a really big surprise. the company has been in the process of simplifying its structure into an industrial piece and ge capital so anything else they have been kind of divesting, full. in fact, ge capital is about 45% of total earnings. that's going to go down about 30% by the end of the year so they are really trying to shrink this business and focus on being more of an industrial pure play and what they are really focusing on even more so is improving their margins where they have a target to expand margins by 70 basis points this year, and i think this deal will help them because they can focus on their core competencies and really improve that balance sheet. now, i think they are probably going to raise the dividend again, maybe buy back stocks certainly and i wouldn't be surprised to see them tuck in from the cash and have a really

strong balance sheet so i actually think that this balance sheet continues to do what they say they are going to do which is becoming a pure play on the industrial side and i think the stock could go a lot higher. >> and the stock right now at 23 and change on ge. you think it's going to go higher. already trading higher in the extended hours. porter, what can you tell us about the impact on comcast to now own fully nbc universal? >> well, they are, as i said earlier, they are sitting in the driver's seat right now because they -- they own the content and the distribution pipes, and they are very, very technologically adept. they have already, with xfinity, started streaming an over-the-top television. in the market lead in terms of being able to cover all the basis in terms of delivery of content, and they have the content, and i don't know of any other media company that can control its own destiny as well as comcast. >> and the stock has traded up

on this news. were you surprised that they actually made this announcement sooner than a lot of people expected. we knew it was coming, but the news tonight was certainly sooner than many had expected. >> i was surprised, but i think, stephanie, just a minute ago, put her finger right on it. ge is in a reconfiguring stage, and they want to be seen and operate as an industrial company. ge capital came very close to the brink during the 2008 recession and market collapse. they want to shrink that down. they are doing that. there was no reason. no one could put any rationale to why general electric wanted to buy nbc in the first place. that was a jack welch initiative. >> right. >> and i think comcast is taking advantage, as julia pointed out, they are getting it at a very, very good market and david pointed out that the money that they are used to go pay for, the

other 49% of nbc ui, it's historic lows so it's a win-win for comcast and ge is happy too. >> where you see rates where they are. david, what's next in terms of the evolution of comcast? >> this is probably enough for them to digest at this point, and, again, to the point that we've all been making. this was, maria, something that we all expected. it's the timing that perhaps is a bit of a surprise, as you said. >> right. >> the fact that it's an accelerated purchase of the entire part of nbc that wasn't already owned, but you do have to kind of operate that asset at this point for comcast. not clear where else the company would go in terms of simply blocking and tackling on what is still a very competitive area in cable, and we always have a lot of questions there about the ability to grow that business in terms of the user base, and, of course, to actually produce a lot of programming that's going to keep nbc the number one network. there's a great deal of

leverage, if you will, in that business. it can turn quickly. we've seen that in the fall given that nbc came in first and there's obviously questions about whether the network is going to be able to maintain that position as we move into the winter months and into the spring. that's kind of the key for comcast. as parter said, it's now complete in terms of distribution and programming, unlike a number of its competitors out there who have chosen one or the other. >> yeah. so porter, what would you like to see in terms of the content evolution? what takes the growth rate at comcast up to the next level. >> i -- i think there's one word. global. they have got the content, and they have got the expertise in distribution right now, and they can go global. they have taken tiny steps to expand the market around the world, but they have got now the ability to be the dominant media company on a global basis. >> all right. we'll leave it there. great conversation and great breaking news here. the stock on the move. comcast up 341, 9% move on

comcast. thanks, everybody. stick around because comcast chairman and ceo john roberts is coming up at 5:00 p.m. to talk about this deal on the "fast money" program right after "closing bell." we'll get more on this deal and why he announced this tonight. stay with us. we'll take a short break on the "closing bell." using technical analysis streamline their process? at fidelity, we do it by merging two tools into one. combining your customized charts with leading-edge analysis tools from recognia so you can quickly spot key trends and possible entry and exit points. we like this idea so much that we've applied for a patent. i'm colin beck of fidelity investments. our integrated technical analysis is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. there. i said it. they don't have pictures of my kids. they don't have my yoga mat. and still, i feel at home. could it be the flat screen tv? the not so mini fridge?

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welcome back. we want to update you on the breaking news tonight. come kat is acquiring the 49% state in nbc universal that it did not already own from general electric. comcast paying general electric nearly $17 billion for that 49% stake. comcast is also announcing tonight that it is increasing its dividend by 20% and it is also announcing a stock buy-back set today. these are the headlines coming out after the close tonight which centcom cast shares trading higher. ge trading higher as it exits the media business once and for all. the company acquiring the remaining 49% stake in nbc for $16.7 billion. there's ge shares, which also traded higher in the extended hours. let's find out what this means for tomorrow. we've got big moves in comcast and ge. now 30 seconds on 2 clock for

our next guests to tell us what to be prepared for tomorrow. will the dow stay above 14,000? joining me is ian wiener and brian from the chase mid-cap growth fund. good to have you on the program, gentlemen. thank you for joining us. >> thanks, maria. >> thank you. >> ian, 30 seconds on the clock. whachl do y what do you want to look for tomorrow? >> two things to focus on for tomorrow. first, on a macro level, the state of the union address tonight. two key things to watch out of that. first, what fiscal policy does obama talk about and how hard of a line does he take on revenue? the harder line, the worse it's going to be. as far as technology stocks, emc and juniper are the keys. probably will talk about capital expenditures and that's the main thing to create jobs. >> all right, we will be watching that. brian, you're up. let me get your take on what to be prepared for tomorrow. 30 seconds on the clock. >> we'd agree with ian on the state of the union.

think that's going to be important. not just for the overall market. we'll be looking at individual industry impacts, for instance, industrial infrastructure- >> reporter: lated stocks might be impacted. we'll be looking at january retail sales that come out tomorrow morning. going to be the first since the tax changesed and be looking to see how they held up. >> brian, thank you very much. good to see you both. ian, brian, thank you very much. we'll talk with you soon. up next, going global ain't what it used to be. my thoughts on shifting globalization attitudes, how it's effecting u.s. companies. and 5:00, comcast chairman and ceo brian roberts on the breaking story we've been telling you about. don't miss "fast money" tonight, as brian roberts explains why he's announcing tonight to acquire the 49% stake in nbc universal that comcast does not already own for $16.7 billion. dividend increase and stock buy-back. back in a moment. [ laughs ] now this is a test drive.

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and finally tonight, my observation on globalization and how there has been a slow creep away from it. after decades of the united states benefits from open trade and globalization everywhere. today, though, austerity is the

watch word. germany and the uk keeping costs in check while others at least have it on the table. tonight, in the state of the union address by the president, we will likely hear a focus on national issues, education, inf infrastructure in this country. in fact, we are much more likely to hear about efforts to create jobs in buffalo, michigan and san francisco, as opposed to ban galore which, of course, for so long was a place where american multinationals created jobs to keep costs in check. with criticisms for any company that sends job over seas, even if doing that is good for a company's bottom line. that is the bottom line today. the truth is, the wave of globalization benefitted so many american-based multinational companies for decades. but that trend seems to be ending, with a shift inward. not just here, but across the wo world. most are looking for solutions toward reigning in long-term deficits and debt. don't get me wrong. it is a good thing the countries are looking for ways to great youth within their own